The people who serve and sell our beer, Episode 3: McHugh’s Off License in Kilbarrack and Artane

The first time we ever delivered to McHugh’s Off-License it was a warm and sunny Saturday evening and the rush had just kicked in in Kilbarrack. Not the ideal time to come waltzing through the front door with a shipment of beer in an odd assortment of mismatched plastic crates.

Admittedly not a great first impression, but thankfully Aidan and the rest of the Kilbarrack crew didn’t let it put them completely off Kinnegar, and together with Frank and his team over in Artane, McHugh’s became one of the key beta-testers of the beer coming out of our pilot brewery.

It now seems like a lifetime since we moved from pilot phase to production brewery, but in fact it was only a little over 7 months ago. To be honest, we wouldn’t have been able to do it at all without the support of everyone at McHugh’s – Cathal, Aidan, Frank and the rest of the staff. These are people who know their beers and their customers; and they are willing to take risks and put new products on the shelves for them.

Of course, had I told Aidan why I was delivering at such a poor time on that Saturday evening, he might have thought otherwise about taking a risk on Kinnegar. I think I was somewhere in Northern Ireland when Libby rang to ask why the beer for McHugh’s was still sitting on the floor of our little pilot brewery back in Donegal. No wonder that familiar clinking of bottles was missing from the journey…